While standing across the surgery table yesterday from one of the many veterinary students who complete internships at the Richmond SPCA, I had one of those light bulb, aha moments.  I think they existed long before Oprah gave them a name, but I look for them more frequently than I used to.  This latest light bulb moment was the realization that a power larger than we are puts us where we need to be at certain points in our lives.

I realized while performing that cat spay in our clinic that at some point along the way, I’ve acquired a higher level of patience.  You see, after personally completing somewhere around 30,000+ surgeries over the course of my veterinary career, I can spay a cat in a very short period of time – in about three minutes – but working with our intern, we would spend about 30 minutes on this single spay procedure. (We can complete surgeries in a very short period of time because we operate a clinic that specializes in high volume – we are an exceptionally well-oiled machine of vets, vet techs, and vet assistants who have the utmost in professional care for the animals we serve). 

A group of chance circumstances, a few missed opportunities and some well-placed second tries have brought me to where I am today – giving me a second veterinary career with a new focus.

I have the patience I have in my forties that I did not have in my twenties because of the children I was blessed with in my thirties.

I have the opportunity to teach what I know about veterinary medicine today because I was too busy with my own life, career and profit margin to mentor the new graduate that worked for me when I first started my own practice.

I am at the Richmond SPCA because of a chance encounter with a fax machine and a Sharpie – yes I could be one of their “Write Out Loud” commercials.

And I always knew that there was more to life than the pursuit of money.  Do not get me wrong, I live a very comfortable life, but I also was fortunate enough after working hard to make a few good financial decisions.  I also believe that we live a life of excess a lot of the time.  So now I get the second chance of doing what I love with employees, volunteers, directors, adopters and clients that fill the void of the clients that I loved but left in private practice.  My clients adored their pets but I could not find the happy medium between helping them and the pursuit of that dollar.  Now I work on any given day with over 400 animals and a group of people so passionate that it is contagious.

Thank you to the powers that be for putting me where I am at the exact time I needed to be here and with the maturity and understanding to appreciate it.

Today’s blog was written by Dr. Angela Ivey, director of veterinary medicine at the Richmond SPCA. Dr. Ivey spent many years in private veterinary practice before joining the medical staff at the Richmond SPCA in 2004.

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